3o8 BIG GAME SHOOTING | 



grizzled black hair which, flowing from his throat and chest down ^ 

 to his knees, emulates the grand beard of a markhor ; this . 

 beard drops off in the summer, but begins growmg agam in | 

 August, and is at its full length during the rutting season late \ 

 in September, which is about the best time for procuring gooa i 



beads. . , . ^u ^ ^ 



Oorial, like stags, seem to affect particular spots at that 



season, and certain hills which at other times of the year hold 



nothing but ewes and young ones will just then invariably \ 



have big rams on them. Oorial ground has hitherto been practi- : 



cally restricted to the Salt range, and a .sorin. ram there is;, 



now a rarity. The country on the right bank of the Indus is^ 



being yearly made more accessible, however, and there are; 



large tracts of good oorial ground in that direction that are! 



as yet practically unshot. Oorial shooting, however, is by no.] 



means a summer amusement, and there is little to be gained < 



then except dysentery from bad water and sunstroke by hunt-, 



ing the deep stifling ravines and almost red-hot stony hills. | 



In the cooler months it is most enjoyable. As a rule one gets t, 



fair number of chances, the ground being so broken that stalking j 



is by no means difficult. An old ram oorial is a fine gameii 



looking animal, and though not to be compared to burrel uj 



still very fair eating. The best way of hunting them is bjl 



walking along the tops of the ridges and carefully examinm}/ 



the ground below ; as there are often a good many bushes oic- 



the hillside, oorial are not always very easy to see, especiall; 



if they are lying down, so the pace should be slow. Th,^ 



natives of the salt range are generally expert trackers, and as J 



wounded oorial is by no means an easy beast to recover, the:. 



skill is doubly appreciable when following up a good ram wit', 



a broken leg. The way they will carry the trail through the mark^ 



of a flock of sheep or along stony nullahs and hillsides with pel j 



haps only an occasional spot of blood to help them, is quUh 



charming after the bungling attempts at the art one general.' i 



sees displayed by the natives of the Himalayas. ' ] 



■ As oorial are perpetually seeing shepherds and other natm- 1 



